Reply With QuoteOmg ua brother!!!
Super nice tank you have there!!!!
27 Litre "Moss Garden" Outdoor Tank
I decided to change my outdoor tank setup... again.
This time round i'm preparing plant decor in advance for an upcoming aquascape project, so the tank was converted into a simple moss grow-out tank.
Thin layers of christmas moss were tied onto lava rocks and just placed into the tank, then left on their own to grow (i forgot to take the initial setup photos, but it was just mostly bare lava rocks with bits of moss).
This tank still gets indirect sunlight, but since the moss are not fast growers, i added various floating plants to help soak up any excess nutrients that will invariably build up in the tank. No additional fertilizers dosed, just regular weekly 30% water changes and a mini algae wafer every alternate day for the resident group of hardworking cherry shrimps.
Current moss growth (around a month after setup)...
There are still some patches of moss yet to fill in, but the growth rate so far has been quite encouraging. The ones on the right side of the tank get more light and flow than the left side, so they are growing noticeably faster... i'll have to start swapping their positions periodically to balance out their growth rates.
Hopefully the tank can maintain this way until the moss fully grow out.
Omg ua brother!!!
Super nice tank you have there!!!!
Thanks!Originally Posted by wongwong
Interestingly, some people have also mentioned it reminds them of the "moss trolls" in the Disney movie Frozen.
Superb!!! Very clean look
Hey, may I ask how many tanks you got?
I saw shrimps, did I?
At this moment, my active tank count is at 5... i guess its considered an improvement compared to when at my peak of "multiple tank syndrome", i had upwards of 15+ tanks scattered all around the place.
Yeah, there are cherry shrimps in the tank.
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
At this moment, my active tank count is at 5... i guess its considered an improvement compared to when at my peak of "multiple tank syndrome", i had upwards of 15+ tanks scattered all around the place.
Its either a very big place or you had really small tanks.
Either way, I am forming a UA Fan club. Who wants to join me?
see, so i'm correct too.. there is such an illness "multiple tank syndrome" relates with aquascaping..At this moment, my active tank count is at 5... i guess its considered an improvement compared to when at my peak of "multiple tank syndrome", i had upwards of 15+ tanks scattered all around the place.
Yeah, there are cherry shrimps in the tank.
which also tell me that i'm affected.
yeah, i guess his place must be huge..
all his tanks look big yet beautiful..
what is UA fan? united aquascaping club?
freebies? some moss from Urban Aquaria? *joking
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
Urban Aquaria Fan Club.
I am still consolidating the goodie bag. So far there are some pamphlets on planted tank maintenance, some Beijing 909 Vouchers, free Brazilian Wax Coupon and a special address for HD photos of his blog.
steady, i'm in..
some suggestions:
beijing 909 and brazilian wax.. not that useful..
maybe free a bag of co2 with carbon mono etc mixture.
i can be a sponsor.. just link the pipe to my exhaust
Bro do your tank have chiller?
if not although indirect sunlight the temperature will still be quite high right?
although cherry rumored to last even in 30 degrees but do they breed?
How come your moss can grow so thick in a month??
My place has limited living space, so the tanks have to be placed "strategically".
Yeah, previously when i kept alot of tanks, they were mostly the 30cm and 45cm ones, smaller tanks which i put into every nook and cranny i could find. At one point even on the floor also have tanks, had to step over them to walk to some areas... received alot of complaints for that.
Luckily i ended the madness by consolidating the smaller tanks and just maintaining a few larger tanks, makes their regular maintenance alot easier.
Fan club? I'm not worthy...
No chiller for the outdoor tank, its temperature is just left to the elements.
Usually on cloudy/overcast days the tank's temperature averages around 29-30°C, but during hot afternoons, the tank's temperature can rise up to 32-33°C (on some really hot days i've seen it hit 34°C before). On the otherhand, the tank's temperature can drop surprisingly low at night, i've check it during cool rainy nights and it can go down to 24-25°C. So the temperature fluctuations can vary widely over the course of just a day.
I've had cherry shrimps living in this outdoor tank for around 2+ months already, and so far no deaths yet, all still alive and active. I guess the temperature changes don't seem to affect them as much, even when i see the thermometer read 33°C in their tank, the shrimps are still foraging all around the tank like business as usual.
Not sure about their breeding rate though, the shrimps i put in are the younger ones from my other tanks and not berried yet, so it'll be interesting to see if they will eventually still breed in such outdoor tank conditions.
I guess the ample supply of light and good water flow helps them to grow... although moss can survive in low light conditions, i've found that they can also grow faster when given more light. They still have comparatively low nutrient uptake though, so the main thing is to avoid too much excess nutrients accumulating in the tank to help prevent algae issues, that'll allow the moss to grow unhindered.
You ought to take some pictures when you running 15 tanks..My place has limited living space, so the tanks have to be placed "strategically".
Yeah, previously when i kept alot of tanks, they were mostly the 30cm and 45cm ones, smaller tanks which i put into every nook and cranny i could find. At one point even on the floor also have tanks, had to step over them to walk to some areas... received alot of complaints for that.
Luckily i ended the madness by consolidating the smaller tanks and just maintaining a few larger tanks, makes their regular maintenance alot easier.
Fan club? I'm not worthy...
Well, you too modest. Really enjoy your works and writing.
*do I get an extra Moss?
I saw you started off this fishy and planty hobby only in 2013.
You really Pick it fast
Bean + Kurt
That was a dark period of my tank keeping days, it was way too jumbled and haphazard, scared to take photos of all that mess.
I still do hope one day i can start a dedicated hobby room and design a proper layout to run multiple large tanks with automated systems... need to figure out how to afford a bigger place with additional rooms first though.
Yeah, i kept mainly larger fishes last time and stopped for a while, until i got interested in planted tanks and restarted the hobby again a few years ago... went through countless battles with algae and alot of tedious tank restarts, planted tanks are definitely alot more challenging than just keeping fishes.
That was a dark period of my tank keeping days, it was way too jumbled and haphazard, scared to take photos of all that mess.
I still do hope one day i can start a dedicated hobby room and design a proper layout to run multiple large tanks with automated systems... need to figure out how to afford a bigger place with additional rooms first though.
Yeah, i kept mainly larger fishes last time and stopped for a while, until i got interested in planted tanks and restarted the hobby again a few years ago... went through countless battles with algae and alot of tedious tank restarts, planted tanks are definitely alot more challenging than just keeping fishes.
I could not agree more with UA, what we show to others are the finished products...but nobody know how many hours of back breaking hours setting up, restarting, maintaining it... good job Bro...
Check out my Blog on planted tank, good for newbies ( i am lazy to retype all the info i know, so please click and read below link... i hope you don't fall asleep while reading)
Link to my Blog
I am not PERFECT but I am LIMITED EDITION !!!BIG Tank comes with BIG Responsibility...as they makan a lot of $$....lol
Is having a filter a must in this kind of setup? I tried similar setup using natural light (indirect sunlight & without filter) without filter but only Sagitaria Subulata survived & grew well.
Apart from Christmas moss, what other plants can grow well in similar setup?
Thank you!
Cheers,
U.K.Lau
Its possible to run such tanks without filters... but i've found that with an efficient filter the tank parameters can be kept in balance for a much longer time (especially with livestock in the tank). The constant flow and circulation from the filter also helps in moving naturally occurring Co2 and nutrients around to improve plant growth and avoid dead spots too.
Most hardy plants are usually able to grow in setups that use sunlight. Some of the plants which i've successfully grown in outdoor ponds and containers so far include species like water wisteria, water sprite, java fern, rotala, barcopa, HM, staurogyne repens, H. monte carlo, most mosses etc (and as expected all of the common floating plants too). The key is to use plants which can adapt quickly to growing in both low and high light conditions (along with wide temperature variations), as weather and sunlight are unpredictable.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 14th Sep 2014 at 21:58.
Has any one tried growing moss in an open plastic bag with sunlight and giving it daily spray of water?
Bookmarks